Of course, as all of you with calendars can deduce, it is not in fact April. In reality we are in July, but these pictures date back to April, so that's how this update has been labeled.

April in Southern British Columbia is well into spring weather, as you can see by the picture above, featuring Jason in shorts during a hike at a local mountain. This hike runs under the power lines that cross the North Shore, delivering energy to the homes and businesses here:

To erect and perform maintenance on the power lines a swath of trees under them has been cut out. This track runs along most of the North Shore. To allow for truck access a flat gravel road has been put in, creating an easy hike - in fact it's really more of a "walk", which Jason and I discovered this day. This hike turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for both Jason and me, and not just for being a bland gravel road. The dog walk book that I use to select hikes said this hike would take 1 1/2 hours roundtrip, and it's just a walk in one direction, then you turn around and retrace your steps, but in fact it took us less than an hour round trip. And the turn around point is Grouse Mountain, one of the local ski hills, which dogs aren't allowed access to.

But what wonderful views this hike has! To your left you can see the coastal mountains that make up the view to the west. Below you can see the southern view, though due to the glare you can't see the ocean that's behind me and Murph. All the white that looks like sky is in fact water, the Burrard Inlet, which comes off the Georgia Straight, which comes off the Pacific Ocean. Across the inlet is Vancouver, then past that is more water, and past that is Washington State in the USA.

It was a very hot day - I was one of the few people not wearing shorts - which added to our discomfort. Luckily Murphy had the luxury of heading in for a dip in a little creek that runs across one section of the path:

There was a Newfoundland dog, still a bit of a puppy from its behaviour, who was walking along in the same direction as us. When Murphy headed down into the water the Newf, who was already down there, decided this would be a great spot to play and pounced on Murphy. Murphy didn't like this so much, as he'd been pounced on earlier in the week by a large dog at Inter river Park, so he snapped at the Newf pretty quickly, putting him in his place. My 30 pounder startled the 100+ pound dog pretty thoroughly! So we moved on while the Newf's family wrangled him out of the creek and back onto the path. We walked to Grouse Mountain, then turned around and headed for home.

Murphy's done a lot of hanging around lately, what with me finishing up school and all. To your right we have him snuggled up on my Mom's feet while I worked at this computer.

And of course hanging around at home gives us the opportunity to practice Murph's tricks. One of Jason's favourites is "Catch", which Murphy is about to do in the following picture:

But we do still get out and about. Below we have Murphy and Jason at Deep Cove, the eastern end of the North Shore. There's a park there, a little community with shops, a marina, and paths to wander. I think it's incredibly picturesque, myself. Deep Cove is about 12 minutes from my home, by car.

Another picturesque locale here in British Columbia is Victoria, Jason's home town, and the ferry ride from Vancouver to Victoria. I thought since I'd done a little picture essay of Vancouver a couple years back, that I ought to do one of Victoria too, since I've been spending so much time there. Murphy, however, has never been to Victoria, as Jason's home is nowhere near dog proofed, so you won't see Murphy in any of the pictures that follow.

First off, the names here can be confusing. Vancouver Island and the city of Vancouver are two distant things. Vancouver is on the mainland of North America. Vancouver Island is an island approximately 35 km from the mainland. On Vancouver Island is the city of Victoria, the capitol of British Columbia. I'm not sure if this will work, but I've mapped it out of Mapquest, so you can see where Victoria is. If you're not familiar with this area of North America you can click on "Zoom Out" to see where all of this land and sea is precisely.

So I'll start with the ferry ride to Victoria. There are several different types of ferries that run between Vancouver, Victoria and the little islands in between. The biggest ones make the trip between Vancouver and Victoria, running at least every 2 hours from 7am to 9pm every day. The biggest ferries, known as "Super Ferries" can carry 2000 passengers, plus, I don't know, like a couple hundred cars. The ferry pictured above I think is the next size down, as the name on its bow seems to say "Queen" of something. I took these pictures from "Queen of New Westminster", a ferry identical to the one pictured above. Since so many thousands of people travel from Vancouver to Victoria every day the 2 biggest sizes of ferries run this route. Below we have an example of the smaller ferries, which run the routes between the smaller islands:

I've always enjoyed the trip on the ferry, since, as a child, we only rarely took the ferry, generally for a little day trip during the summer. It's a very relaxing 100 minute ride, especially on as nice a day as on this trip.

Onto Victoria itself. Compared to Vancouver, which has over 2 million residents, Victoria is quite small at only 300 000 people. It's smaller, less crowded, quainter. Below is a view of Victoria from a highway that overlooks the city:

In the distance you can see mountains. One of those is Mount Baker, which is in Washington State, in the USA.

Above you have the inner harbour right in downtown Victoria. At the base of the picture are people walking along the seawall that runs around the harbour. During the summer there are all sorts of vendors who sell their things along here, from jewelry to spray painted posters of killer whales in outer space (I'm not making this up). To the upper left you have the Empress Hotel, which like the Hotel Vancouver that I showed you on my tour around Vancouver page, is from the days of the transcontinental railroad. In the centre of the shot, mostly hidden behind trees, is the Royal B.C. Museum, which houses everything from dinosaur replicas to a recreation of a BC town at the turn of the century to aboriginal artifacts. To the right of the picture is the Parliament building, where our provincial government sits. A few shots of these buildings below:

Around the harbour there are all sorts of things to see and do. Above we have a little band that was playing just off the seawall, and a little fan of theirs who was enjoying the music.

There's tons of shopping and restaurants. Above we have a little pedestrian mall, flanked by patrons eating on patios. In the centre of the shot is a little setup for a musician who was on a break.

And of course there are lots of whale watching companies who operate out of Victoria.

So that's it for April around Southern BC. I have a couple more dog shots, from just before Christmas in fact. But they don't feature Murphy...

That's Charlie, Jason's brother's ex-dog, as a puppy. Little Charlie went to Jason's brother's ex-girlfriend when they broke up, so we don't get to see him anymore, but apparently he's all grown up now, and doing just fine.

Email me!

Meghan

Here's the link to the next update: June, 2004
Here's the link to the previous update: December 25, 2003

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